Are you looking to remodel your kitchen? Or are you moving into a new place and wandering through ideas? Either way, it’s a big decision, and it helps to seek stress-free solutions to your requirements. Before you hire a pro (or tackle the job yourself), identify your style and preferences, from countertops to kitchen doors and hardware to lighting. In recent years, minimalistic kitchens have exploded in popularity because they’re modern, sleek, elegant, and express much with very few. Characterized by quirky little details and unexpected ingredients, minimalistic kitchens can still add plenty of personality.
For a truly minimalist kitchen aesthetic, apply these ideas. You can do more with less without compromising style and functionality.
Maximize Natural Light in Your Kitchen
A streamlined layout, with minimal barriers and curves, allows natural light to break through, so focus on classic architecture while creating an updated modern feel. Having lots of natural light in the kitchen is a luxury. In case you didn’t already know, light is abundant in minimalism, making every room feel larger. Natural light creates a more calm and serene space, so you can quickly transform your kitchen’s ambiance, making it more inviting. Your kitchen should remain light and airy, even when the night draws in. To optimize natural light, you should:
- Install glass cabinetry – Glazed cabinets break up the monotony of the repetitive solid doors and enhance light flow into darker corners. Place glass front cabinetry near the windows for more light reflection (and a more significant impact). You can show off your favorite things, gathering your treasured items in a display.
- Use all-white or neutral color schemes – White and neutral colors (beige, gray, taupe, etc.) reflect the wavelengths of the light that shines on them, not to mention they never go out of style. Of course, you can add a splash of color to your minimalist design, just make sure to use it in a purposeful way. Wood tones are commonly used in the kitchen.
- Install a skylight – Unhealthy air pollutants are released in your kitchen daily, and a skylight offers a source of ventilation that improves indoor air quality. Natural light comes directly from above, penetrating even the darkest corners. Your kitchen will appear bigger than it really is.
Get Rid of The Clutter & Do A Deep Clean
A minimalistic kitchen is unfussy and free of clutter, but even the most graceful kitchen design can fall victim to the pace of everyday life. No minimalistic kitchen is the same. Still, it would help if you looked to declutter to have room to breathe and be able to get what you need without having to dig, reach, or unstack. You didn’t accumulate all your stuff in one day, so don’t struggle to clear it all in 24 hours. If your household is small and you rarely have guests over, it’s a good idea to reduce your dish collection to half, if possible.
Tools used for one task shouldn’t end up in your drawers. For example, if you cut your pizza with a pair of scissors, take it out of your kitchen. Soon enough, your drawers and cupboards are bursting with items that are meant to make life easier. Go through your cooking tools and get rid of duplicate and triplicate items, keeping the ones you actually need. Also, sort through your cookbook collection and donate those you’ve never opened. Take photos of the recipes you want to try one day. With a busy routine, it’s easy to forget about purging the fridge, so see if all your food is fresh.
Opt For Light Finishes
Since the kitchen is your favorite location, it should be clean, roomy, and convenient to use, besides easy to keep up with. To bring warmth to your minimalist space, you can use bricks, polished concrete floors, and timber ceilings, doors, and furniture. The materials you select are of the essence when it comes to achieving the ambiance you want. You can use synthetic materials for the worktops and or flooring, such as laminate, Corian, and vinyl, but professional installation is recommended. Natural stone offers a durable and beautiful solution for your kitchen, retaining a sophisticated elegance. It’s important to design a functional kitchen that can cope with the needs of a busy family.
Add A Larder into Your Kitchen
The design of modern kitchens has moved to a more open plan, so very few have walk-in pantries. So, what are you supposed to do if you want to easily store food and other kitchen essentials? Add in a larder to meet your inventory needs and keep the space neat and tidy. Indeed, larders have fallen out of fashion for some time now, but such a space-saving solution can prove to be highly effective, combining form and function. A tucked-away pantry can accommodate dried and tinned goods, vegetables, spices, and so on. It literally takes the guesswork out of cooking.
It goes without saying it’s not a good idea to store everything you find in the grocery store. Build your system around what you can feasibly maintain – for instance, you can store one type of pasta. Store-bought foods like almonds or popcorn cakes are designed to look good on the shelf, but they don’t translate well to the larder. This is why you should use clear containers to store pasta, rice, cereal, and so on. Not only is it easy to see what’s inside and what needs refilling, but it’s also easy to find what you’re looking for.
Conclusion
Every detail in a minimalistic kitchen is inspired by the saying “less is more”. It’s important to focus on the essentials (and eliminate everything else); what that means varies according to individual needs and lifestyles. Minimalism doesn’t have to look unfinished or boring, which means that with the right approach, you can inject personality into the space. Cooking equipment should boil down to what matters the most: a saucepan, one large pot, and a couple of basic utensils (a spatula, a wooden spoon, cups, etc.).